Elizabeth Warren has told the Democratic National Convention that President Barack Obama fights for the middle class while Mitt Romney just wants to cut taxes for the rich.

Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren speaks during day two of the Democratic National Convention at Time Warner Cable Arena on September 5, 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Alex Wong/AFP/Getty Images)

Elizabeth Warren has told the Democratic National Convention that President Barack Obama fights for the middle class while his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, just wants to cut taxes for the rich and big corporations.

"The Republican vision is clear: 'I've got mine, the rest of you are on your own.'"

The Harvard Law School professor and Massachusetts Senate hopeful said that for years America's middle class had "been chipped, squeezed and hammered," and that Obama "gets it," the Associated Press reported.

His empathy derived from a life of working for the middle class, she said.

She painted a grim portrait of Republican support for rich corporations and the financial industry.

"Wall Street CEOs — the same ones who wrecked our economy and destroyed millions of jobs — still strut around Congress, no shame, demanding favors, and acting like we should thank them. Anyone here have a problem with that?"

Warren's appearance at the DNC indicates the the Democratic party's faith in her ability to wrest the Massachusetts Senate seat from Scott Brown.

However, the Boston Herald noted, Warren did not once mention Brown in her speech, and made only a brief mention of the Massachusetts Senate race.

Instead, she focused on national themes of economic justice and a “level playing field” for the middle class.

According to NBC, only a "certifiable rising star" in the party gets to address the convention in prime time — as did Obama at the 2004 convention in Boston.

NBC described Warren as "a kind of cult hero to progressive Democrats across the country," whose "passionate national following is reminiscent of the fervor that Howard Dean inspired in his bid for the Democratic nomination in 2004."

Her appeal, the network surmised, arose from the 2008 financial crisis and her role in pushing for creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.